Greece introduces new rules for school trips with mandatory minimum of six excursions in primary education

Greece’s Ministry of Education is introducing a new framework for school trips and educational travel ahead of the 2026-27 school year, placing greater emphasis on experiential learning and educational activities outside the classroom.

For the first time in primary education, schools will be required to organize at least six educational trips per class during each school year. The new framework also allows teachers’ associations to increase the number of accompanying teachers when necessary to strengthen student supervision and safety.

More civic engagement and volunteering in secondary education
The new rules significantly expand the scope of educational trips in secondary education by linking them to active citizenship, solidarity and volunteering.

Students will be able to participate in charitable initiatives, emergency assistance activities and environmental protection or public-space regeneration projects.

The framework also introduces measures aimed at improving the participation of students attending special schools. The minimum participation requirement for educational trips is being reduced from 70% to 50%, removing practical and administrative barriers that previously limited their participation.

Schools can organize joint trips to reduce costs
To reduce the financial burden on families, the new framework allows different schools to cooperate in organizing educational trips.

Schools will be able to arrange joint trips both within Greece and abroad, enabling them to make better use of available resources and potentially secure significantly lower participation costs.

The measure is expected to make longer-distance and multi-day educational trips more accessible to a larger number of students.

Stricter safety rules for travel agencies
The new framework also introduces stricter requirements for tourism and travel agencies involved in school trips.

Both business owners and accompanying staff will be required to submit criminal record certificates as part of the new safety provisions.

Rules governing mobile phones and electronic devices during school trips are also being expanded. In cases involving the non-consensual recording or photographing of students, the device will be immediately deactivated and kept in custody before being handed over to the student’s parents after the trip.

Teachers to have greater access to Erasmus+ programmes
The new rules also seek to strengthen teachers’ participation in European educational programmes, including Erasmus+.

The existing 14-day annual limit on teachers’ participation in such mobility activities will be removed when the trips take place during school holiday periods, including Christmas and Easter holidays and the summer period from June 22 to August 31.

The change is intended to give teachers greater opportunities for professional development, international exchange and the sharing of educational practices without disrupting normal school operations.

A more open school environment
The Ministry says the two new ministerial decisions establish a unified framework for school trips and educational travel, built around two main principles: a clear educational purpose and stronger safeguards for the safety and protection of the school community.

The broader objective is to give students more opportunities to connect classroom knowledge with real-world experience while engaging with culture, history, science, technology, society and the natural environment.

The ministry describes the reforms as an effort to create a school environment offering more experiences and opportunities for students, alongside clearer rules and stronger safety protections.